Late China Party Chief’s Son Urges Reform Before Power Shift

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The son of China’s late Communist
Party chief Hu Yaobang called on leaders of the world’s most
populous nation to pursue political and economic changes as they
prepare for a once-a-decade transfer of power.

“Reforms cannot be wasted, promises cannot be abandoned,”
Hu Deping wrote in a commentary in the Economic Observer, a
Beijing-based newspaper, on Nov. 3. China’s problems threaten
the nation’s healthy development, violate people’s rights and
undermine the party’s ability to govern, he wrote.

Hu’s call was made on the eve of a leadership transition
that will probably see Xi Jinping replace Hu Jintao as general
secretary of the party that’s ruled China since 1949. The so-called fifth generation who will take charge of the country face
slowing economic growth, an aging population and more protests
against corruption and social issues such as environmental
degradation.

“There is huge debate and disagreement among the political
and economic elite about how to deal with the enormous
difficulties and challenges facing the country,” said Ding
Xueliang, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology, who teaches contemporary Chinese politics.
“Different groups and different interests inside the party are
all trying to voice their concerns and make proposals before the
Congress.”

Top Leadership

Hu’s is the strongest voice among liberals in the country
and part of a group inside the system with access to the top
leadership, Ding said. Hu Deping wrote in his capacity as a
member of the standing committee of the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference, an advisory group to the
country’s legislature.

Hu Yaobang’s death helped to trigger the Tiananmen Square
protests, as crowds gathered to commemorate his death in April
1989. Hu, who had been removed as the party’s general secretary
in 1987 and replaced by Zhao Ziyang, had clashed with paramount
leader Deng Xiaoping over political opening, Zhao recalled in
his memoirs.

“When he was General Secretary, whenever social problems
emerged, including demonstrations, he always advocated the
principle of reducing tensions and opposing heavy-handed
measures,” Zhao wrote of Hu in “Prisoner of the State,”
published in 2009.

Rising Discontent

Public discontent was rising with a surge in inflation in
1988, leading to panic buying, as well as increasing frustration
over the lack of political reform, Zhao wrote. Hu’s death on
April 15, 1989, “provided a chance to express this
discontent,” Zhao wrote.

Zhao, who died in 2005, was removed from his post as the
party’s general secretary in June 1989, after he sympathized
with the student movement, which was crushed by soldiers and
tanks on June 4.

The Communist Party starts its 18th Congress in Beijing on
Nov. 8, when 2,270 delegates will begin meeting over several
days to decide on changes to the organization’s top leadership.
The Politburo Standing Committee, the highest ruling body in the
party, currently has nine members including President Hu Jintao
and Premier Wen Jiabao, who will retire. Xi and Vice Premier Li
Keqiang, who Ding expects to become premier, are also members.

China began a probe of Wen’s family wealth at his request
after the New York Times reported his relatives had amassed at
least $2.7 billion of assets, the South China Morning Post
reported today, citing unidentified people. Conservative party
elders who dislike Wen’s more liberal stance have called on him
to explain the New York Times’s reporting, the South China
Morning Post said, citing the people.

Weakest Growth

China’s new leaders are poised to inherit the weakest
economic growth since 1999, with expansion of 7.7 percent this
year, according to the median estimate of 45 analysts in a
Bloomberg News survey carried out from Oct. 18 to Oct. 22.

The party and the nation face two fundamental issues, Hu
wrote in the newspaper.

“The first is its determination to push ahead with reform
and opening-up including its economic system and its political
system while the second is how to further implement socialist
constitutional government and rule of law,” he said.

On the economy, Hu said the monopoly of state-owned
enterprises must be broken up and the social security system
must ensure the old, the young and the sick are provided for.

‘Create Conditions’

Hu also said the party’s unchecked power had resulted in
political interference in the judicial system and serious
violations of people’s rights that are protected by the nation’s
constitution.

The commentary is “a sort of subliminal campaigning,”
said Kerry Brown, a former British diplomat in Beijing who is
now a professor at the University of Sydney. “A lot is still up
for grabs and people want to get their say in just in case it
can influence the whole process.”

In the runup to the meeting, former President Jiang Zemin
made several public appearances, signaling his involvement in
negotiations over who will run China for the next decade,
according to analysts including John Lee of the University of
Sydney.